Social Enterprise World Forum 2025: Insights & Inspiration from Taipei’s Global Movement for People & Planet

SEWF Conference
SEWF Conference

Explore what unfolded at SEWF 2025 in Taipei: key themes, real‑world take‑aways for social enterprises, and how Cambio Consultancy is helping shape the future.

Introduction: A Global Gathering with Purpose

From 27–31 October 2025, Taipei became a focal point for global social innovation. The Social Enterprise World Forum 2025 (SEWF25) gathered more than 1,000 delegates from over 65 countries across a rich programme of on‑the‑ground tours, hybrid sessions and high‑level discussions.


Hosted in partnership with Impact Hub Taipei and held at the Songshan Cultural and Creative Park (with online participation), the event’s theme “Shaping Tomorrow: Collective Action for People and Planet”, captured the current imperative: social enterprises must step up, scale up and partner up.


Here’s what we saw, heard and learned and how those insights are shaping how we at Cambio Consultancy drive impact for our clients.

Setting the Scene: Taiwan’s Rising Role & Context for Action

Taiwan was not simply a venue; it was a statement. With strong government support, grassroots social enterprise momentum and strategic regional positioning, the island’s ecosystem emerged as a vibrant bedrock for innovation.


As SEWF chair Hélène Malandain remarked during the opening, the real question is not if social enterprises will scale, but how they will mobilise collectively and globally to tackle interconnected crises.


Taiwan’s ecosystem offered proof‑points: from social enterprises addressing ageing society challenges, to inclusive employment, to digital transformation. For attendees, including us at Cambio, this meant immersing in both inspiration and practicality.

Programme Deep Dive: What We Engaged With

Social enterprise tours

Day 1 and Day 5 launched with site visits into Taiwan’s social enterprise networks, urban innovation hubs, rural community‑led initiatives, and organisations integrating place‑based impact with global relevance. These tours provided live cases of how mission‑driven organisations operate in context, how they partner with local stakeholders, and how scale doesn’t always mean “big”, often it means “deep”.

Fringe Day (Workshops & Roundtables)

On 28 October, the Fringe Day opened the space for interactive learning: design‑thinking workshops, networking sessions and roundtables convened by local and international partners. Themes ranged from inclusive leadership to social procurement to digital impact. These sessions were less about speeches and more about co‑creating next steps.

Hybrid conference — 29‑30 October

Held both in person at Songshan and online, the core two‑day conference featured:

  • Opening plenary on “People, Planet & Ecosystems: Building solutions in times of crisis”.
  • “Spotlight on Taiwan” – a panel showcasing Taiwanese social enterprise innovations responding to ageing society, environment and digital inclusion.
  • Key sessions such as:
    • Buying for Impact: How social procurement is driving change, exploring how procurement by governments/corporations can shift business models and embed impact.
    • Growing innovation: Social enterprises transforming agriculture, exploring how agritech and food systems are being re‑imagined for inclusion and resilience.
    • The power of networks: Collaborative ecosystems for sustainable change, recognising that social enterprises don’t scale alone.

Across all sessions, three consistent threads popped: context matters, scale needs system‑thinking, and partnerships are non‑optional.

Insights & Take‑aways: What We’re Bringing Back

1. Collective systems change, not solo missions

One of the clearest messages: social enterprises cannot act in isolation. Ecosystem design matters, funders, corporates, community‑leaders, policymakers must be in the mix. As one attendee put it: “It takes a church.” For Cambio, this reinforces our model of multi‑stakeholder convening.

2. Commercial credibility + impact = sustainable business

Several sessions challenged the idea that “social = lower quality”. Instead, the message was that to truly reshape the economy, social enterprises must compete on performance, product, price and purpose. The jury is still out on many models, but those gaining attention are those combining rigour with mission.

3. Speak beyond the impact bubble

If you want systemic change, you cannot keep such conversations within the community already aligned. SEWF25 emphasised reaching investors, procurement teams, corporates and public bodies. For clients of Cambio, this means crafting impact narratives and business models that resonate with mainstream decision‑makers.

4. Local innovation, global relevance

Taiwan’s ecosystem offered rich local‑to‑global stories: e.g., food/agritech social enterprises, community‑led ageing solutions, inclusive digital platforms. They show you cannot drop a model into any context and expect it to work, you must adapt, co‑design and embed local value.

5. Hybrid + inclusive formats signal new norms

Importantly, SEWF25’s hybrid format (onsite in Taipei + online + community hubs globally) reinforced how inclusive access and lower‑carbon delivery are now part of the social innovation toolkit. This matters for reach, equity and scale.

Cambio Consultancy’s Reflections (Peter Ptashko FRSA)

Attending SEWF25 isn’t just about participation, it’s about aligning our work with the frontier of social enterprise and ecosystem change. Here’s what resonated most:

  • We saw how building credible, commercial‑ready social enterprise models is no longer optional, it’s essential. We will support clients to raise their game on product‑market fit, operational rigour and network strategy.
  • We were reminded that real systems change demands multi‑actor engagement. At Cambio, we’ll deepen our focus on ecosystem design, bridging funders, corporates, community partners and social ventures to drive change at scale.
  • We reaffirmed that impact storytelling must transcend our own tribe. We will help clients refine narratives and value propositions so that investors, procurement teams and policy‑makers engage, not just because it’s “good to do” but because it’s smart business.

Leaving Taipei, we are both inspired and mobilised. The question for us and for our clients is not whether we scale impact, but how fast, how well and how collaboratively. SEWF25 delivered ideas, connections and urgency. Now is the time to act.

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